Weight-loss surgery gains more practitioners, improved results

August 12, 2011

IN THE NEWS: More doctors are performing weight-loss surgery today, and hospitals are touting better survival rates, a new study finds.

“We’ve identified a national trend in the use of bariatric surgery that is tied to the rapid expansion of the laparoscopic approach to bariatric surgery and the laparoscopic adjustable gastric banding operation,” said Dr. Ninh T. Nguyen, chief surgeon for the division of gastrointestinal surgery at UC Irvine Medical Center, and lead author of a study published in the August issue of the Journal of the American College of Surgeons.